I have to be careful. This business of old tapes, new tapes. There is responsibility involved. Stewardship. Care. Consideration. You cannot be a headless D.J. If you cut off the D.J.’s head and expect him to be able to communicate his music with fluency … well, you’ve got another thing coming.

There are old tapes. It is not your voice on the old tapes. Or, I should say, voices. Though, after having listened to those tapes over and over and over again, a distorting overlay occurs, creating an aural switcheroo, and you believe the voices you are hearing are your own. All the voices: you. Or so you think/hear. And so, in believing that it is you speaking to you, the audio then becomes gospel (in the same way that pop radio becomes candy gospel), you believe in what they say, and you have substituted “they” for “you” and that is where the danger lies.

In a sea of raging voices and audio, silence will be your best ghost, your greatest ally and helpmate. Do your best to remember that. Anyway, the tapes … after awhile, after years of listening, you may forget you are listening to tapes. You may start to believe that you are listening to the inner you, that these are messages arising organically, and that is when what you hear on the tapes assumes the mantle of truth. Again, therein lies a great danger, a threat and peril to your deepest sovereignty.

I understand that you want to give time to old tapes. That you are a keeper of catalogs. But, and you should do what you want, what you feel, but if one day you choose to burn down the entire audio archive, you have my blessing. Oh, and another thing: new tapes. Make new tapes. I’m talking about brand new tapes. Listen to those brand-new tapes and allow them to become the new old tapes in your life. The new tapes will become old tapes. The old tapes will become less relevant. Create new mixes, experiment with sound and tone, generate reams of audio touched with zest, curiosity, abandon. Rewrite your audio history and future. While keeping mind that silence, your best ghost waiting in the darkened wings, favors its own motives.